Ford Focus 1.8 Diesel - Questions

[Paladine]

I recently bought a used Ford Focus 1.8 Diesel (5 Door) and have a couple of questions maybe you guys can help me with.

1. When the car starts it produces quite a lot of white smoke which stops after a minute or two and is not present when I rev the engine. However, when I stop the car and get out I do notice a strong diesel smell. There is no ticking from the engine when I turn it off and the car seems to drive fine so I am not sure what the problem is.

2. The throttle seems to be a little on the dull side. As I said above the car does seems to drive fine but something just doesn't feel right about the throttle - I have driven many turbo diesels in the past and they had a bit of punch to them when you put your foot down - whereas the Focus does respond it just doesn't seem very aggressive.

3. A couple of mornings ago (it was very cold just above freezing) I started the engine and it was ticking over fine but when I put it in gear and tried to reverse out of my parking spot the throttle simply didn't respond at all. The engine was still running and ticking over fine but nothing from the throttle. Within 10 seconds it was working fine but it was totally dead for those first 10 seconds.

4. When I have the vents on to clear the windscreen, the passenger side clears very quickly but the drivers side takes an age - is there an easy way to check if the fan is broken?

I am going to book it into a Ford Center for a winter service next week and will ask them about these other issues as well - but as you know these places can often charge a fortune for things which actually don't need doing so I was just hoping to get some sort of idea of possible issues before I take it in.

Also does anyone know of a device which will allow me to read ECU codes to give me some more indication of the problems and also a resource for explaining what the codes mean?

I am thinking the problems could be something to do with the injectors - I also thought perhaps the head gasket but I have been told that usually there would be some ticking sound when the engine is turned off if the gasket was the problem. If it is the head gasket how difficult is it to change yourself - I know a garage will charge a small fortune for doing it so if it is not so difficult I would consider doing it myself.

Thanks in advance for any help and suggestions.

[MONDEO TXS 2.2]

White smoke is indicative of raw, unburnt diesel passing through the combustion chamber & vaporising on contact with the hot exhaust / turbo - causing the white smoke

The diesel smell could be leaking injector(s) and / or seals

[MONDEO TXS 2.2]

White smoke could also be indicative of a blowing / blown head gasket - does the oil appear contaminated at the oil filler cap ?

[Paladine]

White smoke is indicative of raw, unburnt diesel passing through the combustion chamber & vaporising on contact with the hot exhaust / turbo - causing the white smoke

The diesel smell could be leaking injector(s) and / or seals

What might cause the raw diesel to pass through the combustion chamber?

If the injectors are leaking or the seals are damaged is it a majorly expensive job to get it fixed? Which parts would I need to replace and is it possible to do it myself?

Thanks for your quick reply.

[Paladine]

White smoke could also be indicative of a blowing / blown head gasket - does the oil appear contaminated at the oil filler cap ?

I read this too but was then told that normally there will be a ticking noise when I turn the engine off if the head gasket was blown. I am not sure how the oil looks as I haven't checked - what should I be looking for?

[MONDEO TXS 2.2]

White-ish / creamy mayonnaise type gunk present at the oil filler cap is indicative of a blowing / blown head gasket

To diagnose the diesel smell a fault code or codes are required or it's guess work really - leaking injector(s) and / or seal(s) are a common cause

[MONDEO TXS 2.2]

The cause of raw, unburnt diesel causing white smoke is often attributed to an injector(s) issue too - again some fault codes would be useful in determining the cause

[Paladine]

White-ish / creamy mayonnaise type gunk present at the oil filler cap is indicative of a blowing / blown head gasket

To diagnose the diesel smell a fault code or codes are required or it's guess work really - leaking injector(s) and / or seal(s) are a common cause

I am going out shortly so I will check the oil filler cap.

I am starting to think that a lot of things seem to point to an injector issue if I knew what to buy to get the codes it would be useful. My last car was a Rover 600 petrol that just ran and ran and ran so I haven't had the need to do any of this stuff for many many years. Is there a preferred gadget for getting ECU codes?

Again, thanks for your help.

[MONDEO TXS 2.2]

An OBD 2 ( On Board Diagnostic ) reader is required to read any fault codes from your OBD port - e-bay sell them for around £10 - £15 - enquire with the UK seller via phone which one is suitable for your car

[MONDEO TXS 2.2]

Halfrauds or similar shops also sell OBD 2 readers I think

[Paladine]

OK so it has been a  while since I started this thread - figured I would update.

So it seems the Focus I bought was in bad shape - suspension, steering, brakes, turbo, injectors, tires and AC.  Amazed it actually drive so well despite all the problems.

So far I have replaced brakes front and back including disks, drums and cylinders.

Currently having Steering, Suspension, Injectors, Turbo and tires done (AC can wait a little while) which should all be finished by mid next week (which is fine because I am overseas for 3 days anyway from Monday).

Hoping the car will have a new lease of life when I pick it up on Thursday - I suppose I should give it a good clean after that :)

[williamweb]

If you don't mind me asking how much is all that going to cost?Are you having the work done in Poland,it would be interesting to know the difference from over here.

Sent from my iPad using Ford OC

[Paladine]

36 minutes ago, williamweb said:

If you don't mind me asking how much is all that going to cost?Are you having the work done in Poland,it would be interesting to know the difference from over here.

Sent from my iPad using Ford OC

The car originally cost me 6400 PLN (just over £1000) and all the repairs listed including parts & labour will be around 7000 PLN (of which 1000 was tires).  So all in about £2.5k for the car and repairs.  The most expensive job is the injectors which is costing around 3500 PLN. (about £400)

[Paladine]

I should be picking it up later today :)

[Paladine]

OK so didn't manage to pick up the car yesterday because they were still waiting for the new injectors to be delivered.  But today I got it back and what a difference - I even have turbo whistle now and actually some semblance of power when I put my foot down.  The turbo was basically not doing anything before, so there is a real difference now.  No white smoke as far as I can tell but I will have to wait until it is a cold start tomorrow to be sure (although the garage told me it is fixed and I have no reason to disbelieve them they seem to have done a good job on everything else).

And it came in 20% cheaper than they originally quoted :)